Yesterday, four leading members of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus objected to the forced dissemination of a highly deceptive anti-abortion brochure called “A Woman’s Right to Know” by an office of the Department of Health and Human Services responsible for the care of undocumented teens in federal facilities.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement is requiring shelters nationwide to provide the brochure. Noting that ORR Director Scott Lloyd had previously engaged in unethical practices, which include trying to block a raped teen and others in ORR custody from exercising her right to an abortion, Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) renewed the call issued by the caucus earlier this year for Lloyd to be fired.

“It has come to our attention that Scott Lloyd and the ORR have directed all providers to give children in their care copies of a brochure titled, ‘A Woman’s Right to Know,’” the legislators said in a joint statement. “This brochure is written by the State of Texas and summarizes Texas law regarding abortion. It is full of misleading statements, including blatant lies about the safety of abortion. Because ORR is requiring this brochure to be provided in shelters nationwide, it misleads all children in ORR custody into believing that they are subject to the extremely restrictive laws surrounding abortion in Texas, including a 24 hour waiting period and sonogram requirements. That is a disgraceful lie.

“We are tired of these increasingly unhinged and unethical rules and procedures coming down from Scott Lloyd. If it were not enough to deny these women their constitutional rights, to obsessively track their reproductive cycles with spreadsheets and daily updates, to pressure and coerce them at their most vulnerable moment, Mr. Lloyd has now made the caregivers of these young women – those to whom they look for support and nurturing – complicit in lying and spreading misinformation about their reproductive health. That is not only wildly unethical, it may also violate the court’s preliminary injunction and state laws. We are looking at all options to make Mr. Lloyd reverse these extreme policies. But the simplest solution remains – HHS Secretary Alex Azar must fire Scott Lloyd.”   

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